Contains numerous examples and problems for practical illustration of the wide range of topics presented

Includes solutions to sample problems within the text as well as a separate solutions manual, available with qualifying course adoptions

Summary

Using spin to replace or augment the role of charge in signal processing devices, computing systems and circuits may improve speed, power consumption, and device density in some cases—making the study of spinone of the fastest-growing areas in micro- and nanoelectronics. With most of the literature on the subject still highly advanced and heavily theoretical, the demand for a practical introduction to the concepts relating to spin has only now been filled.

Explains effects such as giant magnetoresistance, the subject of the 2007 Nobel Prize in physics

Introduction to Spintronics is an accessible, organized, and progressive presentation of the quantum mechanical concept of spin. The authors build a foundation of principles and equations underlying the physics, transport, and dynamics of spin in solid state systems. They explain the use of spin for encoding qubits in quantum logic processors; clarify how spin-orbit interaction forms the basis for certain spin-based devices such as spintronic field effect transistors; and discuss the effects of magnetic fields on spin-based device performance.

The final chapters introduce the burgeoning field of spin-based reversible logic gates, spintronic embodiments of quantum computers, and other topics in quantum mechanics that have applications in spintronics. An Introduction to Spintronics provides the knowledge and understanding of the field needed to conduct independent research in spintronics.

Table of Contents

The Early History of SpinSpin The Bohr Planetary Model and Space Quantization The Birth of "Spin" The Stern-Gerlach Experiment The Advent of Spintronics

The Quantum Mechanics of Spin Pauli Spin Matrices The Pauli Equation and Spinors More on the Pauli Equation Extending the Pauli Equation - the Dirac Equation The Time Independent Dirac Equation Appendix

The Bloch Sphere The Spinor and the "Qubit" The Bloch Sphere Concept

Evolution of a Spinor Spin-1/2 Particle in a Constant Magnetic Field: Larmor Precession Preparing to Derive the Rabi Formula The Rabi Formula

The Density MatrixThe Density Matrix Concept: Case of a Pure State Properties of the Density Matrix Pure Versus Mixed State Concept of the Bloch Ball Time Evolution of the Density Matrix: Case of Mixed State The Relaxation Times T1 and T2 and the Bloch Equations

Spin Orbit Interaction Spin Orbit Interaction in a Solid

Magneto-Electric Sub-Bands in Quantum Confined Structures in the Presence of Spin-Orbit Interaction Dispersion Relations of Spin Resolved Magneto-Electric Subbands and Eigenspinors in a Two-Dimensional Electron Gas in the Presence of Spin-Orbit Interaction Dispersion Relations of Spin Resolved Magneto-Electric Subbands and Eigenspinors in a One-Dimensional Electron Gas in the Presence of Spin-Orbit Interaction Magnetic Field Perpendicular to Wire Axis and the Electric Field Causing Rashba Effect Eigenenergies of Spin Resolved Subbands and Eigenspinors in a Quantum Dot in the Presence of Spin-Orbit Interaction Why Are the Dispersion Relations Important? The Three Types of Hall Effect

Spin RelaxationSpin Relaxation Mechanisms Spin relaxation in a quantum dot Is the Effective Magnetic Field due to Spin-Orbit Interaction Proportional to v or k? The Spin Galvanic Effect

Exchange Interaction Identical Particles and the Pauli Exclusion Principle Hartree and Hartree-Fock Approximations The Role of Exchange in Ferromagnetism The Heisenberg Hamiltonian

A Quantum Mechanics Primer Blackbody Radiation and Quantization of Electromagnetic Energy The Concept of the Photon Wave-Particle Duality and the De Broglie Wavelength Postulates of Quantum Mechanics Some Elements of Semiconductor Physics: Particular Applications in Nanostructures The Rayleigh-Ritz Variational Procedure The Transfer Matrix Formalism